First of all, the trailer is all crap. It’s a good introduction, but it doesn’t reflect the plot of the movie or what it stands for. I guess the studios behind the movie got scared of having a real message. It often seems like the business moguls of the entertainment world deem humanity even stupider than it really is. That is anoying. That aside, Pirate Radio (a.k.a The Boat That Rocked) is a great movie about great times and mostly about the love for music. Yes, it’s simplistic. Yes, it stereotypical and takes an extremely idealizing stand. However, if you are looking for any depth, then you are missing the point. Don’t get too deep into it and just let it carry you away, it will be most rewarding and will definitely re-kindle your love for music and radio. Rock is at the end the most beastly and dumb of musical genres. But that’s what’s great about it. Like the music it loves so much, if you look for any grand revelations in this movie, you obviously don’t really get it.
One more point for the movie: the style, the clothing (see poster below) and the accent. It all screams shaggin’ 60s, and it’s wonderful.
Links:
IMDB Entry
Category Archives: movies
Lea Golda Holterman
04-May-09
“I decided it was important for me to look at this community of women of lost identity not as segmented bodies but as whole individuals and icons of reality. I wanted to code the genetics of prostitution. I feel that prostitution is a concept, a cultural legitimate behavior and a common myth that should be reviewed and analyzed.”
Golda Holterman believes, women’s bodies have become normalized as sexual objects in the media of Western society, particularly photography. The danger of this approach is that the person becomes an object which can be used and disposed of.
“For me, photography is a medium of observation. Through photography, I create an alternative way to observe that a pattern of myth exists in reality: women as a perishable object of desire. If the viewer can stay with the sense of humanism, I will have achieved my goal.”
A different look on the topic of woman exploitation in the sex industry is given in the movie Yo Puta. The movie maybe mellows things down a bit, but it does give an intriguing insight/introduction into this world.
Links:
Gallery 1839 London
Px3 Photo Competition
Via traveling with the ghost.
Alexander Supertramp: Into the Wild
22-Apr-09
When talking about Into the Wild it’s wise to separate the discussion to two parts: the movie and the ideas. Otherwise, it’s very easy to get lost.
Well, the easier of the two will obviously be the movie. It’s a wonderful cinematic experience with amazing photography, breathtaking scenery, carefully orchestrated soundtrack (that fits the ideas perfectly) and great acting. Beside the great potential that came with the story itself, I think that Sean Penn deserve a big round of applause for orchestrating such a wonderful and modest cinematic piece.
The harder aspect to talk about is obviously the ideas behind the movie. There are few layers in this movie, starting from the overall Americana spirit, through capitalism and to the place of the hobo, tramp if you would like, in modern consumer society. I think that anyone interested in really diving into these ideas must consume another brilliant piece of American hobo culture – On The Road. Although set into the same universe (some might disagree with me here), it gives a somewhat different approach. I am not going to really discuss the ideas (the interesting sides and their ‘holes’), it will be too lengthy, but maybe one day, over a glass of beer.
I am not a fan of the ‘brief encounter’ genre, but this one takes a somewhat different self-aware comical approach. Some positive sweetness with a lot of I-will-burn-all-your-shit Texan lingo. Charming. Make sure to catch the black and white version, with colors the charm is half lost.
Links:
IMDB entry
There are a few people more perfect to portray the total disintegration of an artist than Charlie Kaufman and Philip Seymour Hoffman. The absurd is that through this disintegration, with which the artist learns about himself and creates the work of art, it’s the work of art that takes control of the dying artist. At the end, once it has sucked the life of the artist it will have its own life and, naturally, its own death. Synecdoche, New York is one of the most enchanting explorations into art that the cinema has offered for years.
Links:
IMDB entry
Genre Baptism: The Eternal Children
20-Apr-08
It’s hard to say when a new genre is created. Maybe it’s when it gets its own term in Wikipedia, or maybe when a mass of artists claim to be a part of it, or maybe it’s only when it has a movie covering it. Well, whatever the catalyst will be, Freak Folk is by now an official genre. Sporting dozens of artist who are part of it, basking in the limelight with a Wikipedia article and having a sweet movie covering it. Just like the genre itself, The Eternal Children, doesn’t give any straight answers, it just provides a charming childhood experience. This one is a treat to anyone cherishing the works of Devendra Banhart, CocoRosie, Antony and the likes.
Capturing: Les Méduses (Jellyfish)
15-Sep-07
It’s hard to capture the essence of a person, of an event and even of a simple picture. It’s ten times harder to capture the essence of a city and it’s even harder to catch the essence of a unique city. Les Méduses (Jellyfish) manages to do just this. Even if it doesn’t capture an entire essence, it does so with amazing precision. It captures the essence of Tel Aviv and of an entire generation of young Israelis that live, love and get lost in this vibrant city. With the history, environment and the mixture of people that Tel Aviv sports, it’s a challenging task. What makes this movie even more special is that very few movies tried to really do this, and even less succeeded, while keeping themselves as a pleasuring eye candy.
Les Méduses won two award in the Cannes 2007. It’s probably not going to be easy to get to see this one, but it’s well worth it.
Links:
Les Méduses @ Pyramid Films
Trailer [YouTube]
Music Video Tribute (If You Fall by Azure Ray) [YouTube]
Theatrical Teaser [YouTube]
There’s a reason for every word in the dictionary. The pretext under the word ’sex’ is the need to describe an act. The alibi of ’sexuality’ is a bit more complex. Sex doesn’t require sexuality, and, actually, one can wonder if it’s possible for sexuality not to exist in a person. If we don decide that sexuality exists in all, then we must provide it more depth, levels and various qualities. Shortbus does just this. The movie is known for its outrageous sex scenes. The reputation is totally justified. But here a point should be made clear: although the movie is full of sex, its sex is not sexy. It arouses, but doesn’t attract. It’s pornographic in the visual way, but sexually dull on the other hand. Shortbus manages to look at sex in a genuine way, in a realistic manner. Sex is not holy, and it’s not bestial. Sex is not erotic, and not pornographic. Sex is us, and, as such, it’s complex, painful, joyful, sad, bitter, happy, enslaving, redeeming, liberating, possessive, stupid, silly, intelligent, beautiful, ugly and above all humane. This is what Shortbus is, it’s humane, and it’s beautiful. And through all these, Shortbus is sexy.
“I believe sex is sacred, too,” Mitchell continued. “But it’s not being respected by the American cinema.”
Links:
IMDB entry
Official website
Aesthetic Porn: Cashback by Sean Ellis
27-Jan-07Cashback (2004) [YouTube]
Cashback (2006) – Trailer [YouTube]
The genius quality that men managed to induce into art is the almost complete correlation between eroticism and high aesthetic value. It’s wonderful, we have the privilege of drolling over a girl, and excuse it as an aesthetic admiration. Of course, a beautiful girl is a highly aesthetic object, but still, agree with it or not, the connection between erotic attraction and aesthetic value does seem odd, as if it was created this way.
Cashback is two things: a short movie and a full length feature. The short movie, which is linked here, is a wonderful presentation of an idea which was created in 2004. The full length feature is a new movie released recently, which takes the idea and adds a “personal” touch to it. Looks promising.
Links:
IMDB entry – 2004 version
IMDB entry – 2006 version
Official movie website
Trailer [YouTube]
Tricks. Camera angles. Light. Sound. González uses the same tricks as in his previous works. However, despite shocking the audience throughout the movie, he provides what feels like a happy ending, which seems unfitting. But in this happy-end conception lies the power of the movie. It’s a classical happy ending, and we see it as such: the American couple is safe and sound, the children were saved and the rich Japanese deaf-mute has come to terms with the shadows of her past. The subjects that focused our attention got their share of American style salvation. The heroes that we identified with are save. But what about the others?
These are not the only characters in the movie, and with, sharing equal screen time and attention, are also some “others”, the aliens with which don’t identify. The Mexican maid, at the end, loses her life in the US, and is being deported, denied legal help and doesn’t get any help from the family she raised. She goes through this accompanied by contempt and an attitude of lordship from the Americans system. The Moroccan family loses their two boys: one dead, the other on his way to prison. The Mexican cousin – his fate unknown. Here joins the Japanese girl, starring in the two categories, in the first as a rich girl with a trauma, and here as a deaf-mute in a hostile society. Yes, her Traumas are better, but for the rest of her life the role of the cripple in the Japanese society is reserved for her.
The aliens with their horrible destinies, some covered in fog, some crystal clear, are not able to ruin our feeling, that, yes, we just got another dose of American-style happy ending.The movie, and us, demanded a tragic ending, but we wanted the tragedy to belong to these that count, we wanted the tragedy to be ours. When others get it, we don’t feel it’s a tragedy. It’s a tragedy, a classical one, the kind that the hero can’t escape from. The rich-western-beautiful get away, in the movie they buy their way out, just like in life. The rest, to be honest, we don’t really care about. Here lies the power of the movie, in revealing to us, that, actually, we don’t really care. And we don’t.
Links:
IMDB entry
Official movie website
